Bhubaneswar: Will the Odisha government go the Bengal way and allow gyms and yoga centres to open with 50 per cent capacity?
While extending the lockdown till July 15, the West Bengal government allowed salons, beauty parlours, gyms, retail shops in shopping malls and market complexes and restaurants and bars to remain open from 11 am to 8 pm with a few exceptions and strict vaccination rule.
Odisha along with Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal has been reporting a higher infection rate than the national average and this is a cause of concern as it comes amid reports of pressure on the state government to lift the almost two-month lockdown.
The ongoing lockdown in Odisha will end at 5 am on July 1.
According to sources, buses may be allowed to operate on important routes with 50 per cent capacity till 8 pm in Category A and till 3 pm in Category B districts.
The timing of markets is also likely to be extended till 8 pm in Category A and till 3 pm in those under Category B.
While extending the lockdown on June 17, the government had tagged 17 southern and western districts where the positivity rate is 5 per cent or less under Category A and 13 coastal and interior districts having high positivity rate under Category B.
Shops were allowed to remain open from 6 am to 5 pm in Sundragarh, Jharsuguda, Bargarh, Sambalpur, Deogarh, Kalahandi, Balangir, Nuapada, Sonepur, Ganjam, Gajapati, Kandhamal, Boudh, Koraput, Nabarangpur, Malkangiri and Rayagada.
In the remaining 13 coastal districts – Khurda, Puri, Nayagarh, Cuttack, Kendrapada, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Angul, Dhenkanal, Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Bhadrak and Keonjhar – shops for essential goods could function between 6 am and 1 pm.
Odisha has been witnessing a fluctuation in new cases. The test positivity rate (TPR) dropped to 4.14 per cent in Odisha on Tuesday following a decline in the number of new COVID cases – 2640 of 63695 samples were found infected – in the last 24 hours.
The state had reported 3319 cases with 5.02 per cent TPR, the previous day.
Odisha now has 31619 active cases.
In Cuttack and Balasore, the TPR stood at 10 per cent followed by Puri (7.9%), Khurda (8.3%) and Mayurbhanj (8.7%). Khurda, Cuttack, Jajpur and Balasore are still in Red Zone with over 2500 active cases.
These districts are unlikely to see much relaxation in the ongoing lockdown restrictions.
According to the I & PR department, 1517 more cases have been detected among those in quarantine while 1123 are local contacts.
District-wise cases:
1. Angul: 89
2. Balasore: 397
3. Bargarh: 21
4. Bhadrak: 128
5. Balangir: 11
6. Boudh: 19
7. Cuttack: 266
8. Deogarh: 4
9. Dhenkanal: 67
10. Gajapati: 18
11. Ganjam: 17
12. Jagatsinghpur: 132
13. Jajpur: 162
14. Jharsuguda: 8
15. Kalahandi: 20
16. Kandhamal: 15
17. Kendrapada: 55
18. Keonjhar: 70
19. Khurda: 365
20. Koraput: 61
21. Malkangiri: 64
22. Mayurbhanj: 155
23. Nabarangpur: 20
24. Nayagarh: 92
25. Nuapada: 8
26. Puri: 178
27. Rayagada: 49
28. Sambalpur: 23
29. Sonepur: 25
30. Sundargarh: 28
31. State Pool: 73
